


Strictly Professional

by KinomiAkai



Category: Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Complete, Corporate AU, Friendship/Love, M/M, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-11
Updated: 2016-10-23
Packaged: 2018-08-21 19:16:48
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 14
Words: 16,948
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8257339
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KinomiAkai/pseuds/KinomiAkai
Summary: The next of my work from ff.net! Happy birthday, Naruto :)Uchiha Sasuke left his friends behind to follow in his father's footsteps. 7 years later, he finds himself in an elevator with the last person he wanted to see. Will he walk away again? Will Naruto let him? Sasunaru/Narusasu, AU. Complete!





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, and I'm not making any money off of this. Just the warmth in my own cold, dead heart :')
> 
> A/N: So this is the new project! But don't worry, I've learned my lesson this time. The full story is actually, as of now, complete! So I will be posting a new chapter everyday. Of course, if I get an influx of things to add/change, I may need to take extra time to edit through the story - but that's up to you guys! Anyways - I hope you enjoy!

Now, normally, when you're in an elevator, things are pretty quiet. You keep to yourself, move as little as possible, and stay within your own thoughts while absentmindedly watching the numbers change. In a corporation of this size, you very rarely met anyone you knew, let alone anyone you wanted to speak with—and this was doubly true if your name was Uchiha Sasuke.

Uchiha Sasuke, who was a shoe-in to replacing his father as President of the company, was nearly his double in every way. The no-nonsense business attitude, legendary temper, and disdain for generally everyone around them—they handled the business with the same cold efficiency.

But despite Sasuke's many years of practice in this attitude, there was an exception to the rule. No matter how hard he had tried, Sasuke had never been able to ignore one man—he was so loud, so obnoxious, so incredibly infuriating that no one could ever get away with ignoring Uzumaki Naruto. Dislike him, sure. Find him absolutely unbearable, definitely. But ignore him? Never.

And being stuck with the loudmouthed, bright-coloured idiot in an elevator that seemed to be shrinking with each passing second definitely didn't help matters. Especially when traveling for 20-something floors—and _especially_ when the last time you had spoken to him, you had completely betrayed his trust and his friendship.

But Naruto was watching him with a curious expression on his face—not the anger-filled, 'I'm-about-to-punch-you' expression that Sasuke had always pictured would be there. No, this was something much different.

"You look good, Sasuke." Of course, Naruto was never one to stay silent. He couldn't let Sasuke have such pleasantries. But then again, he wasn't yelling. This Naruto was almost…calm? No, that was impossible. Even Sasuke wasn't calm—not that he showed it in the slightest, of course. He was an Uchiha.

"You work here now?" Sasuke asked the first question that came to mind. Maybe not as eloquent as he ought to have phrased it, but it did the job.

But Naruto only did the strangest thing—he smiled. But he didn't grin—no, this was…soft. It was barely a curve, let alone the blinding grin that threatened to split his face in two that had been glued to his face when they were kids.

And then the elevator made a noise that made Naruto step outside—why was Naruto stepping outside?

"See you around, Sasuke."

The doors shut.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: That's it for the prologue! Future chapters will be longer, don't worry. Please let me know if you have any thoughts! I'm a bit nervous, but I've read through the story enough times that I really think I ought to post it already.
> 
> See you tomorrow!
> 
> \- Kinomi Akai


	2. Meetings

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, although I would like to - you'd think with all the spinoffs and alternate universes, they could humour us poor sasunaru fans, don't you think?

It took more restraint than Sasuke would like to admit for him not to hit the emergency stop button. What the hell was that! How many years had it been? They see each other after such an explosive goodbye and _that_ was the greeting he got?!

He had always imagined that if they had ever seen each other again, Naruto would say hello with his fist. So this—this kind of calm was…weird. Unexpected. Wrong. This was wrong.

"What took you so long?"

The doors were open, Sasuke realized. And waiting for him was his business partner, with a blank expression that could almost rival his own. Almost.

"Hyuuga-san," Sasuke nodded. "There was traffic. And an idiot." Let Neji make of that what he would.

"Hm."

"Hey guys," a familiar-looking, shaggy-haired man was addressing them. "Neji, Sasuke," the man grinned, "you two don't look like you've changed a bit."

The man stuck out his hand. No one moved.

He rolled his eyes. "It's Kiba. Inuzuka Kiba, from high school?" Well, today was full of blasts from the past. And that certainly explained the smell of dog.

Neji did an admirable job of shaking hands while making as little contact as physically possible. Sasuke followed his lead.

"Quiet as always, eh?" Kiba said, completely unfazed. "I'm the receptionist. You can go right in, the boss'll be up in just a minute."

Eager to get away from the man, they entered the office—which, upon first glance, appeared relatively normal. Standard, beige walls, not particularly big but big enough to show high standing—maybe a few more windows than were strictly standard, but to each their own. Still, something was off about the place.

Maybe it was the way the chair was not, in fact, reflecting the light in a strange way, but was accented with a very specific obnoxious orange. He desperately wanted to look at the picture frame that was angled just so that the two chairs (positioned for himself and Neji, he presumed) could not see behind it, but he wasn't in the habit of invading the privacy of others—at least, not when Neji was there to see him do it. His eyes were drawn to the other remarkable thing on the desk: a strange statue of a toad. It looked…oddly familiar. Too familiar. In fact, he could swear…but there was no way…

The door opened.

* * *

Naruto stepped through the elevator doors and grinned at Kiba. Kiba gave him a wink and a thumbs up.

"Do they have any idea?" Naruto whispered.

"Not a clue."

"Awesome." The foxlike grin was back for just a moment, before Naruto readied himself and opened the door.

"Ah, Uchiha-san, Hyuuga-san, I'm glad to see you both made it here with this traffic," he said, upon entering the room.

They had both stood up as soon as they had heard the door start to open, but both were now frozen in a halfway motion of an outreached hand.

Neji was the first to recover.

"The years have been good to you, Uzumaki-san," they shook hands, Naruto heartily clapping the top of Neji's hand with a smile.

"You don't look so bad yourself—and call me Naruto. I think we've known each other long enough by now, right?"

"Then you must call me Neji. I agree that it is strange to hear such unfamiliarity from you," Neji's expression was almost fond as he looked over Naruto and took a seat. Naruto took his lead and circled around to his desk, leaning back in his chair and letting the sun hit the orange stripes properly.

"And you," Naruto said, directly addressing Sasuke for the first time, "Uchiha-san. You are looking well."

Neji raised his eyebrows.

"Appearances can be deceiving," Sasuke spoke without thinking, and a stifling silence followed it.

"Call me Sasuke," he followed with, quietly. Sasuke must have been panicking to change his voice in any noticeable way.

"Sasuke," Naruto smiled. It was that stupid strange smile again, "and Neji, we should catch up over lunch sometime. But first, let's get down to business. I cleared my morning for the most part, but I do have another meeting in an hour and a half."

Neji nodded, and pulled out a folder out of his briefcase. Sasuke didn't move. Naruto smiled.

The meeting continued without issue, and afterwards, Neji and Naruto exchanged phone numbers and emails to keep in touch. Sasuke tightly informed Neji that he would see him at work—all but dismissing him. Neji glanced briefly at the two of them, and left quietly, but not before giving Naruto one last smile.

There was a reason Sasuke hated surprises, and everything about today spoke as to why. They never ended well for Sasuke.

Naruto's eyes were softer now that they were alone, or maybe it was because he understood that this was not Sasuke's regular silence.

"Sasuke-" he began.

"CEO," Sasuke breathed, finally. Naruto looked at him and smiled a little brighter.

"Yeah."

"How long?"

"Just a couple months, but I've been with Kyuubi for forever," Naruto waved a hand.

Sasuke nodded, and swallowed. The lump in his throat hadn't lessened any, and silence ruled the room again.

"Um, listen," Naruto put a hand being his head to scratch at a nervous itch—something familiar, finally, "I really do have another meeting. In like—" his eyes darted to the clock above Sasuke shoulders, "two minutes…but we should talk sometime."

"Yeah—yes." Sasuke cleared his throat, "we should. I'll give you my number."

* * *

Naruto stared at the closed elevator doors.

"How did it go?" Kiba sidled up to him.

"The business was fine," Naruto's eyes didn't leave the doors. "They didn't budge on a couple things. I didn't really expect them to."

"Naruto," Kiba's tone made Naruto look at him, "I wasn't asking about the business."

The blond sighed. "I know. It was weird. Sasuke was…Neji was downright nice, I think."

"Dude," Kiba's eyebrows nearly reached his hairline, "I think you need to raise your standards."

"No, I mean it. And I think…I think Sasuke was…nervous."

"Aw, shit! Why couldn't you have gotten me in to take notes or something? I missed all the good stuff!"

* * *

"Welcome back, Sasuke."

Sasuke nearly jumped at the voice, but managed to keep his composure at the sight of his father in his apartment.

"Father."

The tall, burly man gave a grimace that was supposed to be his greeting smile. He had never quite mastered the "friendly" look. He was standing at the kitchen counter, casually pouring tea—it was a calm, gentle task that his rough hands were unsuited to.

"Hello, Sasuke. Would you like some tea?" There was something entirely wrong about the question, but Sasuke quietly accepted anyways.

There was silence.

"How is your work going?" His father knew perfectly well how work was going. He knew everything about the company. Sasuke humoured him.

"It was interesting. We met with Kyuubi industries this morning." Might as well get that out there. Sasuke sipped his tea.

"So I heard." A pause. "And there was a familiar face in your meeting, wasn't there?"

Et tu, Neji?

"Yes."

Fugaku sipped his tea. Sasuke watched him warily.

"He is the CEO, father."

"Yes," he spoke quietly. Dangerously. "A very prestigious position." He sipped his tea. Sasuke clenched his fist under the table.

"I think it would be best to end negotiations with Kyuubi Industries."

Sasuke nearly threw up. He let his eyes blink for a moment longer than normal.

"It has been years, father."

Fugaku looked him up and down. "And yet, nothing has changed," he sighed. "I am disappointed."

"I—"

"Control yourself, Sasuke."

Sasuke unclenched his teeth. "I am under control."

"Hm," another pause. "Do you take me for a fool, Sasuke? Do you believe me to be blind?"

Sasuke didn't reply. He wasn't sure what he would spit out if his did.

"No. This boy exerts the same terrible influence as always," he furrowed his brows, examining Sasuke. "Only one meeting, and it is like you never aged."

"Father, I—"

"It is shameful."

"You haven't even seen him!" Sasuke burst out. Fugaku gave him a disappointed, yet strangely satisfied look.

"I do not need to. You have regressed, Sasuke. You need to do what is best for yourself. You will close negotiations and wash your hands of this mess permanently."

And that was that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that's the first official chapter! Was it what you expected? Better? Worse? Where do you see this story going, now that you know more?
> 
> Let me know! See you tomorrow!
> 
> \- Kinomi


	3. Cards

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto! But the characters are too much fun to mess with :)

"You had lunch with Neji?" Ino's eyebrows nearly reached her hairline. "Neji, like Neji Hyuuga? The fate-freak from high school?"

"That's not nice, Ino," Sakura reprimanded her.

"Hey, he told me that it was like written in the stars that I was an idiot or some shit," she retaliated.

"I think he used the word 'vapid'," Sakura looked thoughtful. "Maybe he was just calling you pretty?"

Ino gave her a look. Naruto snorted into his drink.

"I'll be sure to clear it up with him next time," he joked, but it caused both girls to immediately turn their full attention to him.

"Next time?" Ino asked.

"You're going to see him again?" Sakura had a glint in her eye.

Naruto blushed. "He was nice! It was nice to reconnect with someone…I dunno."

"Sorry, you're gonna have to run that one by me again," Ino rested her hand on her chin. "Nice?"

"Yeah. He seemed…genuinely interested in our conversation. He asked a lot about me. He was smiling practically the whole time—and not a creepy smile!" He added at the look on their faces.

"Uh-huh," Ino didn't seem to believe him for a second.

"Really, though! I mean it!" He paused to take a swig of his drink. "I was pretty distracted though…"

"No, you were focused on another dark-haired, fair-skinned asshole, weren't ya?" Ino winked.

Sakura laughed at the same time Naruto groaned. He let his head drop onto the table.

"I just don't get it," he said miserably. "Why would he want my number if he wasn't going to use it? He stayed after Neji left and everything…"

"You sound like me," Ino said, her drink's straw in between her teeth.

Naruto just groaned again. Sakura patted his arm sympathetically.

"It's okay, sweetie. I'm sure he'll call," she giggled as he glared at her. "Okay, but actually Naruto—it's only been two weeks. He's probably even busier than you are."

Naruto frowned, but didn't fight the statement.

"I know. But it worries me that they cancelled negotiations so suddenly this morning. We had had barely any contact since, and I texted Neji about it, and he seemed just as surprised as I was. Look," he grabbed his phone and showed them the text.

"Yeah, that is pretty weird," Ino agreed.

"Is it possible Sasuke wasn't as impressed as Neji was? With how the meeting went, I mean?"

Naruto frowned. "I guess so, but I doubt it. I went over everything with Shikamaru beforehand just in case. Maybe I should have had him in there with me…"

Ino made a noise and shook her head. "If you guys went through it, it was probably bulletproof. Sasuke's just being a dick."

Sakura gave her an amused look.

"What?" Ino said. "Dick's are kinda my type."

Naruto nearly spat out his drink. Sakura practically howled with laughter. Ino just signaled a waiter over for a refill.

"I'm not even done this one yet!" Naruto protested. "Are you trying to get me drunk?"

"Obviously," Ino retorted. "You saw Neji _and_ Sasuke—in suits, no less—and you're much more descriptive when you're drunk."

Sakura giggled. Naruto just groaned and laid his head back on the table.

* * *

"Hello, Kyuubi Industries, Uzumaki Naruto's office?" There was a pause. "Oh. Oh! Is this Sasuke? Sasuke—yeah! But I thought…yeah, okay, sorry, sorry, jeez. Gimmie a sec…" A rustling of papers. "How about…Friday, at the end of the day? I can squeeze you in there. Yeah….about half an hour? Yeah, okay. Okay. See ya Sas—" Kiba paused, and then hung up his phone.

"What an asshole…"

* * *

"Hey, Naruto!"

Naruto paused, halfway through the door.

"Sasuke called to _demand_ a meeting. You don't mind staying late on Friday, do you?"

"Ye—wait, Sasuke?"

"Yeah, I know. He was really intense about getting a meeting ASAP. Then the bastard hung up on me," he muttered to himself.

"Wait—so I have a meeting on Friday?"

"Yeah."

"With Sasuke?"

"…yeah."

"Uchiha Sasuke?"

Kiba gave him a look. "No shit, idiot."

Naruto's only response was a blinding grin. His week was suddenly looking a lot brighter.

* * *

Sasuke hadn't really known what he was doing when he made that call. Immediately afterwards, he regretted it. Surely, _surely_ , his father was going to find out. Surely he would; he always found out.

And if he found out that Sasuke was meeting Naruto behind his back…his father led one of the most successful companies for a reason. He was ruthless. Sasuke didn't know what would happen to him…but he knew what would happen to Naruto. His father would crush him. He would crush him, crush his company, and crush his dreams…and then what?

But…

Sasuke sighed, and put his head in his hands. It was no use. Either way he would be completely miserable. There was no happy solution for this…no one had…

Sasuke looked up. He was wrong. Someone had defied his father before. And they had been successful. And he hadn't spoken to them in a very, very long time.

His hand trembled, but he picked up the phone.

* * *

They were in a booth, conveniently out of sight. Sasuke was a little paranoid about the whole Fugaku thing, but it was probably warranted. Their father was a little…much, after all.

Sasuke hadn't said a word since they had met at the table, but it was all the same to him. It was nice to see him after so long, and even nicer to watch him sweat.

Itachi sipped his coffee, and sighed in satisfaction. Black, like his heart.

"I met Naruto."

Itachi looked up. Of all the things he expected Sasuke to say…well, this wasn't high up.

"Oh?"

"He is the CEO of Kyuubi Industries."

"Oh," Itachi leaned back in satisfaction. Good to see the kid got somewhere with that ferocious ambition of his.

"Dad made me cancel negotiations."

Itachi put the cup down. Sasuke didn't say anything more.

"He always was an overdramatic one," Itachi said, leaning back. "And you did what he said?"

Sasuke scowled. Itachi chuckled.

"Always the good little boy," Itachi said. Sasuke's scowl deepened.

"Well, you have two options. You can give up, again, and continue crawling after our father like the sad puppy that you are…or," he smirked at Sasuke's offended expression, "or…you fix your attitude and your mistakes."

"That's not—"

"He's not as scary as you see him, Sasuke. He's not all-powerful. He's an old man with an ego. A man that needs to hand over his pride and joy at some point, and you're the lead candidate. Hasn't he been shaping you for years?"

Sasuke nodded.

"Then you hold all the cards."

And then he was gone. But Sasuke didn't move from his seat for a long time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Things in motion :) More to come tomorrow!
> 
> Thank you so much for all the lovely kudos! I'm in awe <3  
> \- Kinomi


	4. Insight

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, and these stories are just for fun :)

They had been sitting in silence since the door had closed. Naruto warily waiting for Sasuke to begin, and Sasuke desperately trying to figure out what to say.

After his talk with Itachi, Sasuke held his head high and went on with business as usual—except he did not cancel the meeting. He didn't exactly advertise it, though. Although he had spent time thinking about how he would talk to Naruto…he didn't really know how to deal with this new, quiet persona. He was used to the Naruto that you had to interrupt in order to speak at all…but this…he had nothing to go from.

This neutral attitude…this was the worst.

But Naruto wasn't really neutral; in fact, he was almost bursting to say something. He would have already, if not for the fact that Sasuke would not meet his eyes. He seemed to be searching for something to say.

Naruto let out a quiet puff of air, and slouched forward a little, letting his chin rest on the palm of his hand. He found himself looking at the picture on his desk…and then he was smiling, and Sasuke was looking at him curiously.

He turned the picture around.

Sasuke swallowed. He remembered that photo. It was them right before prom—him, Naruto, and Sakura. They looked…happy. Like they didn't have a care in the world. Sasuke swallowed again.

"It's my favourite photo, I think," Naruto chuckled a little.

"Why don't you hate me?" The words left Sasuke's mouth before he could think about them. The smile slid of Naruto's face.

"…what?"

"Why don't you hate me?" Sasuke repeated.

Naruto blinked a couple times. "Why would I? You're my best friend."

"We haven't even seen each other in seven years!"

Naruto gave him a lopsided grin. "Not _my_ fault you're a stupid teme."

Sasuke felt his knees get weak. It was a good thing he was already sitting, because he thought he would have stumbled after hearing the old nickname.

"Dobe," he breathed.

Naruto smiled. "There he is!"

"Naruto…I—the day that I left…"

Naruto watched him curiously. "I forgave you for that a long time ago, if that's what you're getting at."

"You—what?"

Naruto shrugged. "I forgave you. You were kind of a bigger asshole than usual, yeah," Naruto gave him a look, "but you'd been acting weird all day. Then you changed your number and moved away and stuff and _that_ was a dick move…but it was off. It was all off."

Naruto sighed, and held up a hand when Sasuke went to speak.

"So I did a bunch of research into Uchiha Corp., and figured out what kinda company you'd need to get in touch with. Turns out I was kinda good at it," Naruto laughed.

"You joined Kyuubi Industries because of me?"

Naruto laughed and waved a hand. "Well the first hundred I applied to turned me down, but I think Tsunade took pity on me. She was my boss," he explained. "So I got the gig—kind of like an internship thing—but I had to get a university degree before I could actually get a job. That was her condition. So I did this as like a part-time thing while I got my degree—which was hell, let me tell you, but I did it—and then I got it, and worked my way up here. And yes," he pointed a finger at Sasuke. "Eighteen year old me was a stubborn idiot that wouldn't let our friendship end like that, but I genuinely enjoyed where I ended up, so it's not all about your egotistical ass!"

Naruto finished with a grin. "I didn't really expect it to work out this way. But when I became CEO, and really settled into it, I sent out feelers for you guys, and you responded." His brows furrowed. "But then you cancelled on me. Why'd you do that?"

"I didn't want to," Sasuke said immediately, and then stopped. How was he supposed to explain this?

"Soooo…" Naruto prompted.

"So," Sasuke swallowed. "The day I left—the night before, actually, before we fought—in high school," he stuttered, trying to organize his thoughts.

"The night before we fought at the grad ceremony?"

"Yeah," Sasuke said. "My father—"

"Oh!" A familiar voice came from the doorway, and they both looked up to see Sakura and Ino, wearing similar surprised expressions.

"I _told_ them not to come in!" Kiba yelled from the other room. Naruto snorted.

"Looks like we interrupted," Ino said with a sly smile. She crossed her arms and leaned against the doorway. "Naru-naru, you're not standing us up for this old guy, are ya?"

Naruto's eyebrows skyrocketed at the nickname, but he looked at the clock instead of saying anything.

"Could you give us a couple minutes?" Naruto asked, with a pleading look.

"Su—" Sakura started, but Ino interrupted her.

"I'm afraid not. They won't hold our reservation for too long."

"Since when do we have a reservation?" Naruto asked.

"Since I decided tonight was a night of celebration," Ino grinned, and looked Sasuke up and down. "Uchiha, you're coming too." It wasn't a question.

"Uh," Sasuke replied.

Sakura reached out her hand to Naruto, who grinned sheepishly at Sasuke, before taking it. Ino looped her arm through Sasuke's, and gripped his arm, pulling him up.

Sasuke made to move his arm away, but as Sakura pulled Naruto out of the office, Ino tightened her grip and whispered, "he may have forgiven you, but that doesn't mean the rest of us have."

Sasuke scowled, "I don't care what you think," he hissed.

"Ah," Ino gave him a superior look. "But he does."

Shit.

"So, let's go to dinner. Shall we?"

Sasuke internally snarled as they walked out of the door.

* * *

Dinner, actually, was not awful. Ino loosened her death grip enough to sit beside Sakura, which meant he sat beside Naruto: physically and mentally closer to him than he had been in years. It felt…nice.

The three of them had obviously kept in touch regularly, and Sasuke found himself smiling along with them as if he had never left. After a few drinks, he even chuckled.

Unfortunately, that had to end at some point.

Betrayal came in the form of Sakura, who seemed to have aged in the same way as Naruto: by becoming oddly quiet, and calm.

"So, Sasuke. What has your life been like these past years?" Until then, they had wandered around the topic of Sasuke—Ino, apparently, had decided to go easier on him after seeing something in him that she approved of. Sakura was not so lenient.

The table, which had been full of conversation and laughter, was now an expectant silence. Naruto didn't seem to want to save him from this one. Well, alright then.

"Uneventful," he answered carefully, nursing his drink.

"Uneventful? Surely _something_ has happened," Sakura pushed, her eyes tightening slightly.

Sasuke let out a sigh. "I work at Uchiha Corp. I went there straight after university, which I accelerated. I am to replace my father when he retires, as head of the company."

"She asked for your life, not your résumé," Ino said with a snort.

"That is my life," Sasuke responded coldly.

Ino raised her eyebrows and held her hands up in surrender. "Meant no offense, man."

Sasuke felt the tension coming back to him all at once, and he suddenly became acutely aware of all of the people in this restaurant—any of which could recognize him, and if they recognized him, his father would surely find out. He needed to talk to Naruto.

He glanced over at Naruto, who was trying not to stare too obviously.

"Well, it's late," Sakura sighed. "Ino, we should go."

"Huh? But—"

"So sorry, Naruto," Sakura smiled, giving him a hug across the table. She extended a hand to Sasuke. "Sasuke, nice to see you again."

They shook hands, and Sakura pulled Ino out of sight. Apparently, she thought they had interrupted the two boys for long enough.

"Sorry they barged in on us," Naruto said after a moment.

"Do you want to go for a walk?" Sasuke asked suddenly.

Naruto looked surprised. "S-sure."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That's all for today! As for those who wanted Naruto to make Sasuke suffer - I know, I get it :P You'll find a common theme in my stories is making Sasuke uncomfortable. But in regards to this story - I like writing Naruto similarly to canon: unbelievably forgiving. Almost to a fault. I hope you guys get that sense from him :)
> 
> The boys finally talk tomorrow!
> 
> Until then,
> 
> \- Kinomi


	5. Phone Call

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto! Even if you sue, I have nothing to give!

They still had a little while before sunset, so a walk wasn't actually a bad idea. They walked together in comfortable silence. Well, Naruto seemed more comfortable than Sasuke.

"You know, you don't have to tell me whatever big secret you're holding back today," he offered, "I don't plan on going anywhere anytime soon."

He looked over with a lopsided grin, and Sasuke's heart skipped a beat.

"N-no," he said, cursing himself for stuttering, "it's…kind of time sensitive."

Naruto raised his eyebrows, and quietly looked away.

"It's about…the day I left."

"Yeah, I figured that much," Naruto gave him a half-smile, and there was quiet again.

After a moment, Naruto offered, "I don't even really remember what you said."

Sasuke looked at him in surprise. Naruto smiled.

Sasuke let out a puff of air, and looked at the ground. "That's probably a good thing."

"Nah," Naruto put his hands behind his head, and looked up at the sky. "You didn't mean any of it."

Sasuke looked at him again. "How do you know that?"

Naruto glanced at him, but put his gaze back to the sky. "I dunno. When we were younger…like way younger, we'd fight a lot. And you'd call me annoying and stupid and stuff…and you'd mean it."

Sasuke frowned.

"Relax, teme," Naruto gave him an amused look. "I meant it when I'd call you a bastard, too. The fact that you meant it when you called me annoying made me want to get right up in your face that much more, y'know."

Sasuke snorted.

"Heh, I know. But then we kinda switched at some point…was it middle school?" Sasuke didn't reply. "Might've been…at some point, we both stopped meaning it."

"Are you telling me I'm not a teme?"

Naruto barked out a laugh and turned back to face him, hands in his pockets. "Nah, you're definitely still a teme," he said, walking backwards with a grin.

"But you know what I mean, right?" He continued. "It wasn't the same as before."

"Yeah," Sasuke replied quietly.

"So when we fought…I don't really remember what you said, 'cause it was all…hollow. Like you were faking it. I don't remember what you were saying, but I remember your face…and your voice…you didn't sound angry, Sasuke," he stopped walking, and looked Sasuke in the eye.

"You sounded like you wanted to cry."

* * *

They stared into each others' eyes until Sasuke couldn't bear it and looked away. The fact that Naruto had hit the nail on the head had really not helped the lump in his throat.

He sighed, and forced himself to glance at Naruto. Naruto was just watching him, quietly and patiently. He had no idea when Naruto had become so meditative.

"My father…"

The phone rang.

Sasuke nearly jumped a foot in the air. He took the phone out of his pocket and looked at it in wonder.

"Is calling me." He stared at the phone.

"You…gonna pick it up?" Naruto asked after it rang again.

"Ye-yeah…" Sasuke automatically raised the phone to his ear. "Uchiha Sasuke."

"You left work early today," came the voice from the other end.

Sasuke's heart thumped painfully.

"I did."

"Hm," his father had never needed to ask a question to demand an explanation.

Sasuke opened his mouth to make an excuse, but he caught Naruto's eyes, and it closed with a snap. All of a sudden, he felt like he could stand a little straighter.

He covered the mouthpiece, and leaned in to whisper.

"My father will try to make life very difficult for you. Can your business fight him?"

He pulled away to scan Naruto's face. His father was still silent on the other end.

Naruto looked confused, but a part of him seemed to understand something, because his chin raised defiantly.

"Bring it on," he whispered at Sasuke.

A wild rush of adrenaline flew through his body, and Sasuke nodded, fighting a smile. His father made an impatient noise. Naruto nodded back, unblinking.

"I'm with Naruto," he said finally. His voice didn't waver. "We're on a date."

Naruto's eyes bulged.

There was no reply.

"I'll see you at work, father," he said breathlessly, and hung up the phone. After a moment of staring at the 'call ended' screen, he turned it off entirely.

He looked back at Naruto, who appeared to be frozen.

"Sorry," he offered. He felt weightless.

"Y-you," Naruto stuttered.

Sasuke felt an exhilarated smile on his face.

"Um," he began. "My father…found out I was gay the night before I graduated. I thought my perfect grades would be enough to offset the disappointment."

He paused, looking away to compose his thoughts. The sun looked like it would set soon.

"It wasn't." He said, needlessly. Naruto's head jerked as if coming to some sort of realization.

"He…blamed my…influences, I guess. My friends."

"Me," Naruto whispered.

"Yeah," Sasuke looked down, "you."

There was a pause. Sasuke wasn't smiling anymore.

"He…didn't want us to…associate," Sasuke remembered the words. "He said it was the best thing for me. For my career."

Naruto made a noise.

"Yeah," Sasuke blew air out through his noise in a sort of laugh. "I thought I could have both. So he…he said that he would…target you. To ruin you, somehow."

Naruto was looking at him with wide eyes.

"I thought he was all-powerful, when I was a kid," Sasuke snorted. "I kind of still do. Or did, I guess."

He gave Naruto an apologetic look. "I believed him."

Naruto nodded, inhaling.

"So I pitched a fit at graduation, and made sure no one could contact me since."

They looked at each other for a moment.

"I'm still gay," Sasuke offered.

Naruto barked a laugh, and gave Sasuke a warm smile.

"Yeah," he said fondly. "So am I."

It was Sasuke's turn for his eyes to bulge.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The boys finally talk! I hope you enjoyed!
> 
> See ya tomorrow,
> 
> \- Kinomi


	6. Planning

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto! I wish I did!

"But—you," Sasuke offered eloquently.

Naruto gave him an amused look. "You remember anything from Sakura's 17th birthday party?"

Sasuke choked on his tongue. Naruto looked at him suspiciously.

"I—I didn't think _you_ remembered that," Sasuke said.

Naruto squinted at him. "What exactly _do_ you remember?"

Sasuke felt like his throat closed up.

"When we—uh—the downstairs closet—" he practically squeaked.

Naruto gaped at him.

"You asshole!" He pointed a finger and poked him in the chest, but he was smiling an incredulous smile. "You acted like you didn't remember a thing!"

" _You_ acted like you didn't remember a thing!" Sasuke argued, indignant. "What was I supposed to say?! Hey, Naruto, remember when we casually hooked up at the party where you were hammered?"

"I wasn't _that_ hammered," Naruto protested.

"You drank more than me!" Sasuke said.

Naruto made a face. Sasuke gave him the "stop-bullshitting" look.

"Okay, yeah," he reluctantly agreed.

"Which is exactly why I couldn't say anything," Sasuke pushed.

"That's stupid!" Naruto said.

"It is not—" Sasuke began.

"It is!

"It—" Sasuke stopped as Naruto's mouth twitched. Sasuke covered his mouth to stop himself from smiling.

They caught each others' eyes, and then they were laughing.

* * *

Naruto wiped the tears from his eyes. Sasuke was still chuckling. He could hardly believe what had happened over the course of the day.

"It's getting dark," Naruto said.

"We should head back to the cars," Sasuke agreed.

After walking for a little while, Sasuke spoke.

"How did you afford university straight after high school?"

Naruto snorted and raised an eyebrow. "You want to see my student loans?"

Sasuke chuckled. "Touché."

"What do you think your father is going to do?" Naruto said after a moment.

Sasuke let out a puff of air. "I have no idea."

"Mm, fair enough," Naruto gave him a half-smile. "He won't like…fire you or anything, will he?"

Surprisingly, Sasuke chuckled.

"Actually," he said, "I have to sign off on all firing of employees. I don't really know how it works if he's trying to fire me."

Naruto looked at him in surprise. Sasuke laughed.

"I don't think he can actually reverse that decision without my approval either. I don't know why I didn't think of it sooner," he eyed Naruto fondly.

"He wouldn't like…give the company to someone else, would he? Like…I dunno…Neji?"

Sasuke scowled. "Not anytime soon, no, but while we're on the topic," Sasuke crossed his arms, "did you two…meet?"

Naruto was amused. "Like, for lunch? Yeah."

Sasuke didn't reply.

"It was fun," Naruto added.

Sasuke scowled further.

Naruto laughed, and Sasuke glared at him.

"Why, Sasuke, if I didn't know better…" Naruto leaned in towards him, "I'd say you were jealous."

Sasuke narrowed his eyes and turned away with a "hn."

Naruto's laughter followed him.

* * *

"Wait," Naruto said, just as Sasuke went to get in his car. Sasuke looked back at him.

"Why did you cancel meeting with me?" Naruto coughed. "Or, my company, I mean. The company."

Sasuke snorted, but then paused, remembering his father waiting at his apartment.

"Sasuke?" Naruto prompted, after he was silent for a little while.

"My father has a key to my place," he said.

"What?"

"…after the meeting, he was there waiting for me," he said quietly. "I think Neji told him."

Naruto frowned, getting the message. "Do you…think he might be there now?"

Sasuke glanced at him. "I didn't think about it until now."

Naruto let out a puff of air, and then grinned.

"Wanna stay at my place?"

Sasuke looked at him in surprise.

"What? Like I'm gonna let you have a shitty night after standing up for me," he fluttered his eyelashes, "my hero."

Sasuke snorted.

"Seriously, though," Naruto grinned. "We can plan and stuff."

"You? Planning?"

"Hey! That's rude," but Naruto had a smile on his face.

Sasuke rubbed the side of his neck, letting the his attraction to Naruto hit him fully as he looked him up and down.

"Alright. Lead the way."

"Will do!" The fox-like grin was back in full force.

* * *

Naruto…was not living in the kind of building you'd imagine a CEO to be. And he seemed to guess what Sasuke was thinking as they entered the stairwell.

"I did say I had a lot of student loans," he said.

"I'm surprised you know how to budget that sort of thing," Sasuke joked.

"I'm a CEO, you jerk," Naruto wacked the back of his hand against Sasuke's arm.

After a moment, he continued in a quieter voice. "Sakura did help me a lot though."

"Sakura?" Sasuke was surprised.

"She's a whiz with numbers," he explained. "You don't remember her in math?"

"True," he said, remembering back to a few tests where he had not, in fact, had the highest marks in the class.

"This is the floor," Naruto said finally, and Sasuke was ashamed to admit he was breathing rather heavily. They had climbed six floors, but still.

* * *

"Sorry about the mess," Naruto said as he held the door for Sasuke.

Naruto's apartment was…nice. Modest. It had a bedroom, bathroom, and a large room that seemed to be a combination kitchen-living room. It was definitely messier than Sasuke kept his own place, but, well, this was Naruto. And this was way better than high school Naruto.

But—ahh yes, there was the empty instant ramen cup on the floor.

Naruto followed his gaze, and blushed profusely. He seemed to scamper around the apartment, picking up the bits and pieces he had left scattered around. Sasuke felt warm at the sight.

"So, uh, Sasuke," Naruto said, turning around to hide the sink full of dirty dishes, "do you want a beer or something? You can have a seat wherever you'd like!"

"Sure," Sasuke agreed, making his way to the couch. Naruto tossed him a beer and sat down next to him, positioning one leg on the couch and one leg off.

"I have a question," Naruto said, turning to face Sasuke, "what would you have done if I had freaked out about the whole 'we're on a date' thing?"

Sasuke snorted. "You join a company purely to meet me again, stick to it to the point where you're CEO, and you'd walk away because I was gay?"

"Fair point," Naruto said with a laugh.

"I don't think your father would walk away either," Naruto continued quietly.

Sasuke sighed, and drank his beer.

"Sorry," Naruto said. "Okay, new question—"

"No, no," Sasuke interrupted him, "it's my turn for a question."

Naruto laughed, and pulled his other foot onto the couch so he could lean forwards.

"When did you get so calm?"

Naruto blinked at him. And then laughed.

"Sakura says the same thing!" He laughed again, "I guess I just kind of grew into that. I did do a lot of yoga in university…still do the whole meditation thing," he blushed a little, and put a hand behind his head, "I think it's good for me."

Sasuke smiled into his drink, fighting back a comment involving flexibility.

"Oi, teme," Naruto kicked his leg, "don't laugh at me!"

"I'm not!" Sasuke said, fighting down his smile, "I'm not, I promise."

"Uh-huh," Naruto rolled his eyes.

"No, I'd…" Sasuke let his eyes flicker up and down Naruto's body, "I'd like to see that."

Naruto blushed, but rolled his eyes, taking another swig of beer.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There you go! I hope you all enjoy!! Thank you so much to everyone who has commented or left a kudos!!!
> 
> \- Kinomi


	7. Flirting

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto!
> 
> Shoutout to kaprice80 for letting me know I accidentally had the publication date for all of my chapters to be Oct. 10th! Whoops :P Thank you for your help! <3

A few drinks and questions later, and Naruto had his feet on Sasuke's lap and a body that had sank considerably further down the couch. Sasuke had one hand on Naruto's leg, unconsciously moving his thumb up and down.

"So…Sai?"

Naruto rolled his eyes. "Yes, Sai. We only dated for a couple of months."

"Hn."

Naruto sighed inaudibly. "I mean, you would like him. Dark hair, dark eyes…" he tilted his head, "kind of an asshole."

Sasuke didn't know whether to smirk or scowl. He settled for scowling.

Naruto smiled. "Sasuke…"

"That description also fits Neji," he muttered into his drink.

The blond couldn't help but laugh.

"I mean that's technically true," he said, "but I'm not into Neji. I wasn't that into Sai either," he added meaningfully.

"Stop trying to make me feel better," Sasuke's mutter had devolved into a meaningless mess.

Naruto dug his heel into Sasuke's thigh, laughing, "I have no idea what you're saying, teme. Stop being so grumbly!"

Sasuke gave him a look that was definitely not a pout. Definitely not.

Naruto sat up and pushed himself forwards, effectively plopping himself in Sasuke's lap.

"Stop being such a teme," he muttered in Sasuke's face.

"I'm working on it," Sasuke whispered.

Naruto gave him such a glowing smile that he almost kissed him.

The blond saved him the trouble.

* * *

They spent the weekend together. Naruto unabashedly made Sasuke borrow his clothes, and Sasuke pretended he was not avoiding his apartment, because he was simply making up for lost time with his gorgeous boyfriend.

Which was true, to some extent, but the fact remained that it was now Sunday night, and Sasuke still had no idea how to speak with his father come tomorrow.

It was a good thing he had Naruto, wasn't it?

* * *

It was Monday. After spending a completely wretched weekend hearing absolutely nothing from what was effectively his last remaining son, Uchiha Fugaku was at work, and he was in an entirely fowl mood.

He hadn't seen Sasuke today. He hadn't actively sought him out, because he shouldn't have needed to. He had no idea what had gotten into the boy.

Well, no, that wasn't right. He knew exactly what caused this change in Sasuke: the Uzumaki boy. Sasuke turned into an emotional, blubbering mess around the child. He didn't understand why on earth he continued to socialize with him, but whatever it was, it was important enough to defy him.

A scowl had been a permanent fixture on his face since Friday, at with each passing day it had only served to deepen. He checked his emails again. Nothing.

Hm.

A knock at his door interrupted his thoughts, and he paused for a moment to compose himself before beckoning them in.

A moment later, he desperately wished he hadn't.

* * *

Naruto discreetly wiped his palms on his pants before he knocked on the door. He wasn't entirely sure this was the best plan, and neither was Sasuke, for that matter, but they had to move forward somehow.

As he entered, he was met with an incredibly hostile glare. Naruto smiled politely to hide his nerves, closing the door quietly behind him.

"Uchiha-san," Naruto bowed in greeting. Fugaku didn't move. Maybe he should have upped the formality?

There was a pause.

"Skipping work as soon as the workweek begins, Uzumaki? I suppose I shouldn't be surprised, given your…academic history," his tone was so heavily laced with disapproval, Naruto could almost feel it on his skin.

Well. Fugaku apparently had no plans of even pretending to like him. If he was trying to goad the blond into causing a scene, he had another thing coming.

"I hadn't known you had access to my résumé," Naruto gave a tight smile, "I am particularly proud of keeping on the dean's honour list throughout my degree, in spite of my internship at Kyuubi Industries. And speaking of which," Naruto saw the man open his mouth and quickly continued speaking, "I am actually here on business."

He pulled out a folder. "A few weeks ago, I met with Neji and Sasuke," the informality was noted and frowned upon, "and we discussed how our business could work together on a possible new project. I'm sure you heard," Naruto inclined his head. "However, we received an email cancelling the project from your end. We never received a reason as to why."

He paused, but Fugaku did not seem eager to speak, so he continued.

"I was hoping you could enlighten me," Naruto said, "or perhaps we could go over the project together? I have the details here."

"No," Fugaku said quickly. Naruto looked up at him.

"We will not conduct any business with Kyuubi Industries."

Naruto raised his eyebrows. "Ever?"

Fugaku raised his chin and gave a challenging stare. Naruto held his eyes for a moment, before making up his mind to change tactics entirely. He grabbed a chair and turned in around, straddling the seat and crossing his arms over the back. Fugaku looked highly offended.

"Why don't you want your son to be happy?" Naruto tried to make his voice gentle, but the question still came out harsh. Fugaku looked furious.

"I have done nothing that was not for his own good. I have given him everything he could want."

"Except for love and approval," Naruto pointed out. Fugaku nearly growled.

"You have no idea what you speak of, boy," he spat, "you have no—"

Naruto heard enough. "Is this about Mikoto?"

Fugaku looked as if he had been slapped.

"It is, isn't it?"

Fugaku pressed a button on his phone. "I need security here immediately."

Naruto sighed. Well, he had a couple more seconds.

"Are you trying to protect Sasuke from getting hurt?" Naruto asked, "because you could just go the normal route of threatening the prospective suitor."

Fugaku held his lips so tight they were turning white.

"Here's the thing," Naruto said, "if you're trying to protect Sasuke from falling in love or something—it's too late. That's done."

Fugaku looked at him in horror.

"I love him. I'm almost positive he loves me. That's—"

The door opened. Naruto stood.

"You called security?" A white haired man with a toothy grin stepped into the room, eyeing the two of them.

"Suigetsu, yes," Fugaku cleared his throat. "Please remove this man."

"Ah," Suigetsu said, glancing at Naruto again. "I'm afraid I can't do that."

Naruto blinked.

"You are Uzumaki Naruto, yes?" Naruto nodded.

"I am under Sasuke's orders not to remove Uzumaki Naruto from the building."

Fugaku's knuckles turned white as he gripped his chair. "Then you will be fired," he hissed.

Suigetsu shrugged. "Sasuke said I was safe. I believe him. Have fun you two!" He gave a jaunty wave and left the room.

Naruto stared at the closed door. Apparently Sasuke had anticipated his father reacting badly. He tried to quash the smile threatening to appear on his face, but wasn't entirely successful as he turned back to face Sasuke's father.

"So, where were we?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoyed! Things are starting to heat up, what did you think?
> 
> Until tomorrow,
> 
> \- Kinomi


	8. Confrontation

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto! Still!

Fugaku didn't reply.

"Okay, let's try again," Naruto said, "why are you so intent on hating me?"

"Because you are a bad influence."

"In what way?"

"In every way!"

"Okay," Naruto breathed deeply. "Maybe if you give me an explicit example, I could change whatever it is that bothers you?"

"You could not."

Naruto rolled his eyes. "Try me."

Fugaku's eyes narrowed. "…It is your influence that makes Sasuke…fragile. He becomes weak and impulsive."

"He becomes human?" Naruto raised an eyebrow. Fugaku glared.

"Have you ever stopped to think that maybe Sasuke just…doesn't take after you as much as you would have liked him to?"

Fugaku's eyes narrowed further, as if daring him to continue. Naruto didn't feel threatened.

"Is that why you hate it so much? Because when he acts like that, he reminds you of her?"

"Get out."

Naruto blinked. Fugaku's hands were balled in fists, but even that was not enough to stop them from shaking.

"I—" He said.

"GET OUT!"

Naruto didn't have to be told twice. In retrospect, he thought, making his way out of the building, he may have made things worse.

* * *

Sasuke heard about the confrontation from Suigetsu, and called Naruto for the full story. Naruto seemed to feel guilty about the whole thing. Sasuke grimaced.

"Did you really think it was a good idea to mention my mother?" He asked quietly.

Naruto sighed. "Well obviously now I don't, no."

Sasuke rubbed his temples. "Well, okay. We'll see what he does later in the week."

"Sounds good. We still on for dinner tonight?"

"Of course."

"Good." Sasuke smiled at the relief in Naruto's voice.

* * *

But Fugaku did not return to work for the rest of the week. After the first day, Naruto started to worry. After the second, they both did.

On Thursday, Sasuke bit the bullet and went to his family home after work: no one answered the door. On Friday, Naruto had an idea.

Sasuke didn't like it.

"I can go on my own," Naruto said softly. Sasuke gave him a look and grabbed his jacket. Naruto sighed.

"Okay, but we're taking my car," Naruto said. Sasuke gave a sharp nod.

But Naruto didn't go straight to where he thought Sasuke's father might be. He parked quickly, muttering, "I'll be right back."

Sasuke nodded, lost in his own thoughts.

Naruto took longer than he would have liked, but scurried back with his hands full as quickly as he could. Sasuke looked over in surprise at the various flowers and candles, and Naruto blushed.

"Even if he's not there," Naruto told him quietly, "I want to do this right."

Sasuke felt a lump in his throat and gave Naruto a small, shaky smile. Naruto nodded, and got into the driver's seat.

* * *

But he was there—Sasuke's father was at the graveyard. He sat in worn clothes, with a half empty bottle of wine in his hand. He looked…old. Old and exhausted. Naruto stared at the hunched figure and suddenly felt like he couldn't take another step forwards.

Sasuke let out a deep breath at the sight of his father. Naruto turned to look at him in question, and Sasuke understood. He gripped Naruto's arm gently, before taking the bouquet and bags from him. Sasuke walked forwards, and Naruto slowly moved over to a larger tree to shelter him from Fugaku's sight. This was a moment Sasuke and his father needed to have together: he would wait his turn.

* * *

Fugaku looked up as a bouquet was placed beside his wife's grave. Sasuke knelt down gently. His father shuffled away, moving the wine bottle behind him and wiping at his face.

Sasuke put his hand on his father's shoulder, and felt him freeze. He didn't pause, merely moving forwards to gently lay the candles around them. He knelt down, cradling a lighter in his palm. He did not look at his father, and he imagined his father was trying very hard not to look at him.

Sasuke broke the silence.

"You're going to have to retire at some point," he said quietly. Form the corner of his eye, he thought he saw his father jerk slightly in surprise.

"But you don't want to leave. You put so much time and energy into it that's it's the biggest part of your life," he paused, "and you don't really know what you are without it."

He turned to look at him. "Right, dad?"

Fugaku's eyes were red and he was swaying slightly.

"You never really moved on from her, did you?"

His eyes widened, and with a strangled cough, he looked away. Sasuke nodded as if it was an answer.

"I don't think any of us did," he said, lighting another candle, "I don't know how you're supposed to."

There was a pause.

"Do you remember when I took Naruto to meet her?" Sasuke's eyes were far away. "You were there, in the hospital. He was so excited to meet her. He comes barging in, already yelling half of his sentence, and falls flat on his face. He turned in mid-air so that he wouldn't squish the flowers. Do you remember?"

Fugaku slowly nodded.

Sasuke's breathed out a laugh. "What an idiot."

Fugaku's lips quirked against his will.

Sasuke smiled fondly, before it passed. His eyebrows furrowed. "I remember her smiling there," he said, and Fugaku nodded, as if his own memories were running alongside Sasuke's, "but I don't remember her very well."

Fugaku looked at him in alarm.

"No, I mean—" he sighed, "of course I remember my mother. I just…don't remember the details anymore. I tried very hard to forget them, at first."

Fugaku sighed deeply, but quietly.

"I'd like to remember her…better than we do now. Is that okay?"

Fugaku fought valiantly to keep his composure, but his lips quivered dangerously. He seemed to be on the verge of speaking. Sasuke let him think.

"Do you think…" his voice was thick and rough, and he swallowed to clear it, "do you think Itachi would come home for dinner? A family dinner, like we used…" he couldn't seem to continue.

Sasuke put his hand on his father's arm. "I think he'd be there in a heartbeat."

And with a great sob, his father slowly fell apart.

* * *

It seemed to be hours to Naruto, but Sasuke eventually signalled him over. His father seemed to have fallen asleep. He must have barely slept that week.

"How'd it go?" Naruto whispered nervously.

Sasuke stood to let Naruto hug him, closing his eyes to breathe in the scent of Naruto's hair.

After a moment, he stepped back. Naruto's eyes were wide and curious, and Sasuke felt the pain in his chest start to ease. He gave Naruto a small smile, which Naruto seemed to understand, judging by how his face brightened.

Sasuke squeezed Naruto's hand and went to gently blow out the candles. Naruto crouched down and stroked the gravestone gently, and when he thought Sasuke wasn't looking, he whispered something to it. Sasuke couldn't hear what he said, but he didn't need to.

They stood, and looked at the sleeping form of Sasuke's father.

"Do you think he drove here?" Naruto whispered.

Sasuke shook his head, but frowned. "I can check the parking lot."

Naruto nodded. "Do that. But I'll drive you two home."

Sasuke looked at Naruto.

Naruto shrugged uncomfortably. "I don't think he should wake up alone."

Sasuke sighed. "He's going to wake up as soon as we move him, probably."

"Okay," Naruto said.

Fugaku seemed to wake up enough to carry his own weight, but not enough to really realize what was happening, and the three of them stumbled into the car.

* * *

They had just finished laying Fugaku down on the living room's sofa, and they quickly went into the next room.

Naruto hovered at the door worriedly. "Are you sure he'll be okay sleeping there?"

Sasuke rolled his eyes. "I'm sure he appreciates your concern," Sasuke smirked as Naruto gave him a look, "and if you want to move him upstairs to his bedroom, be my guest."

Naruto sighed.

"He'll be fine. Relax."

Naruto nodded, and turned back to Sasuke.

"So…do you want me to cab back and you can use my car tomorrow?"

Sasuke looked at him and coughed a little. "I don't really need your car."

"Oh—okay, well, I can drive yours over at some point this weekend?"

"No."

Naruto raised his eyebrows.

"He's going to have to get used to you sometime." Sasuke turned his head away, pretending his cheeks weren't warm.

"You don't want me to go," he said, taking a step closer to Sasuke.

"No," he whispered, "I don't want you to go."

Naruto's smile was like a floodlight, the way it lit up the entire room.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And there is your insight into Sasuke's history, and into Fugaku's...obsessive behaviour.
> 
> More tomorrow!
> 
> -Kinomi


	9. Family

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, the manga or the anime! You can't blame a girl for hoping though!

Naruto spent his morning happily holed up in Sasuke's room, content to procrastinate going downstairs for as long as possible. Sasuke didn't put up a fight; he enjoyed waking up with Naruto as much as Naruto did with him. Unfortunately, Naruto's stomach betrayed them both.

"Unngh," Naruto clutched at his stomach, "I'm so hungry!"

"I think this is the longest you've ever gone without eating," Sasuke teased. Naruto went to whack at Sasuke's arm, but Sasuke caught it, and swiftly pulled Naruto over him on the bed.

Naruto leaned in to rest his forehead on Sasuke's chest.

"I'm so hungry," he whined.

Sasuke snorted. "Sex and food. Is that all you ever think about?"

"No!" Naruto protested. "I also think about what a jerk you are, you big jerk," he said, moving his face closer to Sasuke's with each word.

"Would a jerk do this?" Sasuke whispered, and then fluidly spun Naruto onto his back, Sasuke now on top of him.

"That's exactly what a jerk would do," Naruto whispered against Sasuke's lips, and Sasuke smirked.

They kissed for a moment, before Sasuke promptly hopped off of the bed and said, "okay, let's go get food."

Naruto groaned at the ceiling.

"Come on, idiot," Sasuke pulled Naruto up. Naruto glared.

"Now I'm horny _and_ hungry," he hissed angrily. Judging by Sasuke's chuckle, it didn't phase him.

* * *

Fugaku seemed to pause as he saw Naruto, and his eyes flickered to Sasuke before he spoke.

"I," he cleared his throat a little, "I made breakfast. It may be cold now."

"Breakfast?" Naruto repeated in a hushed whisper. Sasuke spared him a small smile, and turned back to his father.

"Sounds great," Sasuke took Naruto's hand and pulled him into the kitchen, but not before Naruto spoke a hesitant "thank you."

Fugaku made himself sparse as Naruto and Sasuke ate breakfast. It was a relatively quiet affair, with Sasuke never really being one for many words and Naruto being terrified of screwing everything up.

They had just finished, and were speaking in hushed tones when Fugaku re-entered the room.

"Naruto," he started, before he seemed to shake himself, "ahem, may I call you that?"

Naruto flashed a bright mile and nodded a few more times than strictly necessary.

"May I have a word with you?"

At this, Naruto's smile faltered a little, but he went to move towards Fugaku. Sasuke gripped at Naruto's hem to make him pause, and looked at him with serious eyes. Naruto gave him a reassuring smile, and moved forward.

* * *

They entered a few rooms over, and Fugaku suddenly looked very tired.

"Naruto," he started, but paused to swallow. He seemed unable to look Naruto in the eye.

"I must…apologize," he clasped his hands together. Naruto looked at him in awe.

"I have behaved…abhorrently…these past few years. To you, and to my sons. No matter my reasons, I am not proud of the fact."

Naruto wanted to speak, wanted to tell Fugaku that he didn't blame him, that any man who went through what he did would have acted similarly, but found himself unable to interrupt.

"I know I cannot erase my behaviour from your memory, but I would like very much for us to start again."

Naruto pretended not to notice the lump in his throat as he fought to whisper, "I would like that very much, too."

* * *

It became obvious that Sasuke had wasted no time in contacting Itachi when the man arrived on their doorstep at noon on Sunday. The atmosphere has been tense, but cheerful until that point.

Sasuke greeted Itachi at the door, and although Fugaku had been warned of his arrival, he seemed to almost…hide from him. Naruto couldn't blame him; he was...unsettling.

"So, Naruto-kun," Itachi eyes were hard, "what do you think about all this?"

Sasuke mouth twitched into a frown, but he didn't say anything.

"About what?"

"All of this," he waved a hand. "The blackmail my _father_ used against Sasuke, the fact that he forced him to leave you entirely and was entirely happy with doing so again—for that matter, I'd like to hear your thoughts on the psychological torture that being left without family and friends does to a young adul—"

"Itachi!" Sasuke practically yelled, looking more alarmed than Sasuke had ever seen him.

Itachi didn't look apologetic. He opened his mouth to speak, but was interrupted.

"No," said Fugaku from behind them, "he can continue. None of that was false."

Fugaku had his hands clasped in front of him very tightly, as if he fought to keep them from shaking, and seemed to be fighting the urge to look away from Itachi.

"Father." Itachi's voice was like steel.

Naruto suddenly felt like he should be anywhere but there.

"I—uh—need to go to the bathroom," he said quickly, excusing himself. After a moment, Sasuke followed, not feeling the need to give an excuse.

When they were alone, in Sasuke's room, they closed the door to soften the noise of tearful shouting and Naruto let out a puff of air with wide eyes. Sasuke gave him an apologetic look.

"Look, my father…"

Naruto shook his head. "You don't need to make excuses for him. I think I get it," he said quietly.

Sasuke looked at him, confused.

"I never knew them—you know…my, uh," Naruto cleared his throat, "my family. It hurts pretty bad sometimes. I can't imagine—I don't even want to imagine—what it must be like to have it ripped out from under your feet like that."

"I don't know if it's better or worse," Sasuke whispered.

Naruto nodded, swallowing thickly. "I don't know, either. But I know it would be…rough. Really rough. If…if like…we were," Naruto coughed again, "married—and I'm not being creepy or forward with this, it's just an example—and I lost you, I don't think…I think I'd make some pretty bad decisions too," he let out a puff of air with a hesitant smile.

Sasuke looked at him fondly, seizing the chance to lighten the mood. "Married, huh?"

Naruto turned beet red, and punched him in the arm. "I knew you'd focus—that wasn't my point!"

Sasuke chuckled. "A bit soon to be dropping hints, isn't it?"

"Sasuke!"

Sasuke couldn't have kept the smile off of his face if he tried. He pulled Naruto in, and kissed his forehead, fighting a smile all the while.

"Come here," Sasuke whispered, "I want to look at something with you."

"'Kay," Naruto breathed as all the fight left him and he let Sasuke pull at his wrist.

Sasuke opened his bedside drawer, and pulled out a thick album. He grasped it gently, and sat on the bed, signalling Naruto to join him.

"I asked my father for this yesterday," he explained. "I haven't looked at it yet."

Naruto looked at him as if he was explaining the secrets of the universe. Sasuke let his hand fall into Naruto's, and opened his family's old picture album.

* * *

Sasuke could feel his eyes burning as he traced his fingers over the photos—his mother looked so happy, he couldn't believe he had forgotten so much about her smile—but he couldn't seem to stop looking. Naruto was quiet, aside from an occasional watery chuckle at a particularly silly baby photo, but kept one of his hands staunchly on Sasuke's thigh.

Neither of them had any idea of how much time passed as they flipped through the photos. Sasuke barely dared to breathe, afraid that anything could set off the tears building in his eyes. A few had already escaped, but if Naruto had noticed, he hadn't said anything.

Naruto had noticed, in fact, and was actually so entirely in shock that Sasuke was letting him—or rather, Sasuke _wanted him_ to—witness such a private moment that he couldn't seem to form words. It had certainly been a quiet few days for Naruto.

They reached the end, apparently no photos had been added since Mikoto fell sick, and Sasuke didn't seem to want to close the album. Naruto didn't blame him, but made a very strong mental note to dig up as many photos as he could of Sasuke from high school, and to take more photos in general. That album was really something.

He swallowed thickly. "I changed my mind."

Sasuke looked at him with red-rimmed eyes.

"I think," Naruto struggled to keep his voice steady, "I would have really loved to have something like this to remember my parents with."

Sasuke shut his eyes tightly, and tried to keep his breathing steady. Naruto took that as a cue to wrap his hands around Sasuke, and nuzzled his face into his neck. After a moment, he felt Sasuke's hands around him, and wetness drip on the side of his neck. He squeezed tighter.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A few tender moments, and some movement towards resolution - things are starting to wrap up. You're seeing more of Naruto's irritatingly forgiving attitude, too :P I'm sure Itachi harbors enough resentment for everyone, so if you're itching for a oneshot with a fight, let me know and I'll start planning ;)
> 
> Until tomorrow,
> 
> \- Kinomi


	10. Finale

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto!

By the time they were ready to brave the downstairs again, it was quiet. It turned out they had nothing to fear; Fugaku quietly informed them Itachi had gone to bed, and he was going to do the same. Naruto didn't know what to make of it, but Sasuke took it as a good sign that Itachi had chosen to stay, as opposed to simply driving off.

"I'll make us some dinner," Naruto offered. Sasuke raised an eyebrow at him.

Naruto rolled his eyes. "I'm not going to cook some gourmet meal, but come on, you think Sakura would have let me live this long without ever learning to cook anything?"

Sasuke smiled a little.

"Yeah, jerk," Naruto looked victorious, "where do you keep your bread?"

"It should be in that basket," Sasuke pointed.

"Okay," Naruto said, "you go sit down. Or make yourself a drink or something."

Sasuke let out a puff of air. A drink sounded good—he had work tomorrow, but, hell, it had been a crazy weekend.

"Do you want anything?" Sasuke offered.

"If you do!" Naruto called from the kitchen.

Sasuke sighed, and eyed the liquor cabinet.

* * *

"It's nothing fancy," Naruto said, finishing up. "It's kind of like garlic bread. What kind of cheese do you want?"

"Whatever you normally put on it," Sasuke answered, not really caring either way, but mainly curious to try Naruto's cooking.

"Well," Naruto gave a sheepish laugh, "I'm lazy, and pretty cheap, so I usually just put whatever sliced cheese I have."

"Then do that," Sasuke smiled fondly. Naruto spared him a warm smile, and went to the fridge.

"This is surprisingly good," Sasuke said, after a moment.

"I am surprisingly capable at frying bread," Naruto laughed, "and you are surprisingly capable at mixing drinks."

Sasuke smirked.

"There is alcohol in this, isn't there?" Naruto asked suspiciously.

"Of course there is," Sasuke said, in between bites.

Naruto paused, eyeing his drink. "You're not trying to get me drunk, are you?"

"Naruto," Sasuke said, mockingly scandalized, "you think so little of me? I know full well you have work tomorrow."

"And so do you," Naruto eyed him, "and yet, here we are."

"Finish your food, idiot," Sasuke said, after a moment, "you're going to need the energy."

Naruto grinned.

* * *

The next day, Naruto wasn't quite hungover, but he definitely was sleep-deprived. And from the looks Kiba was giving him, he had guessed purely lewd reasons as to why—and that meant the rest of the office had too.

Naruto hadn't gotten any last night, contrary to popular belief. He didn't much mind; they had done more than enough to satisfy his drunken self's libido. He got the sense that Sasuke felt a little weird about having sex in his family's home, which made sense, considering Sasuke didn't seem to see at as the safe place that your room is supposed to feel like.

Itachi's voice echoed in his head, repeating "psychological torture" over and over. Naruto shook his head and took a gulp of his coffee. Now was the time to focus on work—everything else could wait until later.

* * *

Despite Sasuke's apprehension, his father attended work that Monday, and acted as if nothing had happened. Still, Sasuke found himself distracted, and often looking at his phone, as if he expected a message.

* * *

Around lunch, and after hours of distraction, Naruto finally bit the bullet and sent Sasuke a text asking how his day was going. He had honestly figured that once Sasuke was back in his life, he would stop obsessing over him so much—but it seemed like the opposite had occurred.

Damn bastard.

* * *

Sasuke pretended like hearing from Naruto wasn't the highlight of his day, but it was a little scary how his entire attitude changed as soon as he saw the message. The idiot really did have a huge influence on him.

No wonder his father had been disturbed.

After some back and forth, and some talk with Itachi, Naruto and Sasuke decided to spend the night at Sasuke's place. Itachi was home to keep his father company, but if all else failed, he had a key to Sasuke's apartment.

And besides, they had not really had a chance to enjoy it there; Sasuke being afraid of his father barging in on the two of them and Naruto being perfectly okay to stick to his own place.

Still, Naruto found himself getting very excited at the prospect of a night alone with Sasuke—at his place, no less.

* * *

As silly as he felt, Naruto brought flowers. Sasuke gave him his most affectionate "you're-an-idiot" look.

"Blue and orange?" Sasuke asked, amused.

"It's still your favourite colour, right?" Naruto asked, suddenly nervous.

"What, orange?" Sasuke smirked, using his free hand to pull Naruto in, "you betcha."

Their lips touched, and Naruto made a mental note to buy flowers more often.

* * *

"I was planning on making dinner," Sasuke noted, a little sadly.

Naruto turned over and pulled the bed covers over the two of them. "You still could. You know I can always eat."

Sasuke chucked and Naruto smiled, giving Sasuke's shoulder a brief kiss.

"Do you want help? I'm pretty useless myself but I'm not a bad assistant," he offered.

Sasuke eyed him with a smirk, "oh, I have _something_ you can assist me with."

Naruto snorted. "Even you aren't that quick."

Sasuke smirked, and reluctantly got out of bed.

* * *

By the time Sasuke was finished, which really wasn't that long, Naruto had fallen asleep. Sasuke didn't mind; he just casually strode over and waved the bowl under Naruto's nose.

Naruto shuffled in the bed, moaning slightly. Sasuke moved the food closer. Naruto's eyebrows furrowed, as if recognizing something but not figuring out quite what…

With a start, his eyes sprang open and he nearly leapt out of bed. Only Sasuke's quick reflexes kept the ramen from spilling all over the two of them, although he did not avoid burning his arm completely.

He hissed as he set the bowl down, rubbing his forearm a little.

Naruto looked at him with wide eyes, as if seeing him for the first time.

"You made ramen?"

Sasuke fought a blush, "it's not that instant crap you used to eat all the time, I made—"

"You made me ramen?!" Naruto was practically bouncing off the walls.

Ah, well—some things never change.

**Fin.**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There it is! And with that, the main story is complete and I will mark this story as such. Thank you to everyone who followed along!
> 
> I have four extras that I'll be posting daily, and after that, the daily updates will stop. But, I still love this world and will probably play with it from time to time, and post the results up here. The main story - of Sasuke and Naruto establishing and finally being comfortable in a relationship together - is concluded, though! I hope you felt that they reached a good place, too.
> 
> Until next time!
> 
> \- Kinomi


	11. Extras: Matchmaker

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto! Really! You want to see my wallet? It's empty ;_;
> 
> A/N: Here's a little oneshot I had planned since the start of the story. Fair warning, it features KibaHina, so if you're really opposed to that, you might not enjoy this very much and can feel free to ignore it! But Sasuke and Naruto are still very much the main point of this story, don't worry.
> 
> Hope you enjoy this bonus chapter!

"You hired him so he could get a girlfriend?"

"No, you ass, I hired him so that he could be closer to the love of his life. It's super romantic!"

"…I don't think 'Kiba' and 'romantic' have ever been even remotely in the same vicinity."

"Aw, come on, he was crazy about her in high school!"

"I don't remember much about high school," Sasuke said, grimacing slightly.

"Except for me," Naruto turned and gave Sasuke an exaggerated wink. Sasuke rolled his eyes.

"He's not a bad secretary." Naruto said after a moment.

"Are you kidding? I think he swore at me every time I called. Before he even knew it was me."

"Yeah, Sasuke?" Naruto grinned, "he always knew it was you. You have a very distinct voice. Especially your 'I hate the world, don't talk to me' voice. It has a certain…growl to it."

Sasuke smirked and pulled Naruto in by the hem of his shirt. "I thought you loved it when I growl."

Naruto's face lit up like a tomato, and Sasuke considered his work finished.

* * *

"Hey, wanna meet Neji for lunch or something?"

Sasuke scowled so deeply that he felt his facial muscles twinge in pain. He flattened his features and looked up from his computer. "After he tried to put the moves on you? I don't think so."

"I didn't think Neji was gay!"

"You're an idiot," Sasuke said without missing a beat.

"Hm, fine then. Me and my idiotic self will go meet Neji for lunch. Alone."

Sasuke slammed his laptop shut with a loud snap and glared at Naruto. Naruto grinned back at him.

"Why do you want to meet Neji?" Sasuke crossed his arms.

"I, uh," Naruto scratched the back of his head, "kinda wanted to ask him about Kiba and Hinata."

"Them again?" Sasuke fought a small smile.

"Kiba really likes her! And she likes him too, I think, and—"

"And now that you've conquered my family's disapproval, you want to conquer everyone else's?"

Naruto blushed and stammered, "that's not—I mean—"

Sasuke strode over to him with a smirk, and held him at the shoulders as he brought his forehead to rest on Naruto's.

"You're a dobe," he whispered. Naruto's eyes were bright and warm.

"You're a teme."

* * *

Sasuke let Naruto do the talking; it was his idea anyways. Instead, he amused himself with subtly flaunting Naruto in front of Neji. It seemed to be working.

"You called me here…to talk about Kiba?" Neji looked like he just smelled something awful.

"To talk about your family! …And Kiba," Naruto blushed a little, and gave Sasuke a look, who was currently running his fingers up and down Naruto's leg.

Neji sighed. "He's not exactly…high status."

"So? Hinata liked him!"

Neji raised his hands in a submissive gesture. "I'm not saying I agree. I'm just saying why I believe our family disapproved of him. Obviously I never saw what Hinata did in him, but…if she likes him, she likes him. It's not my business. But our family is…old-fashioned," he grimaced a little, "they like their traditions."

"Well then they ought to modernize a bit," Naruto said.

Neji sighed again. "I can't believe I'm going along with this."

Something on his face made Sasuke speak. "They don't know you're gay, do they?"

"I'm not gay," Neji answered automatically. Sasuke gave him a look.

"Well, I'm not," he shifted uncomfortably. "Although I do prefer men, I think," he muttered quietly.

"Wait, your family doesn't know you're..what, bi?"

Neji nodded in answer to both questions.

"Do your parents know?" Naruto asked.

Sasuke smiled fondly. "One crusade at a time, Naruto."

Naruto blushed, and Neji chuckled a little.

"Do you know that she still wants to be with him for a fact?"

Naruto frowned. "Well…no, but—"

Sasuke rolled his eyes. "Then that's probably step one, isn't it?"

Naruto frowned thoughtfully. "I guess so."

* * *

"Well, you came to the right gal," Ino winked. Sakura rolled her eyes.

"You coming, Sakura?" She said, heading towards the door.

"Nah," Sakura waved a hand. "I'll keep distracting Naruto for a bit."

Ino shrugged, and then grinned. "Get the deets on his sex life for me, will you?"

Sakura laughed and Naruto groaned. Ino practically cackled as she went through the door.

"Don't worry, dogboy, we're all working very hard to get you laid," they heard from the hallway, followed by a loud crash and a string of curses.

Sakura giggled, and then eyed Naruto. Naruto's grin faltered a little.

"So," she leaned forwards, "about that sex life."

Naruto hid his blush in his hands.

* * *

"The girl's obsessed. Poor thing could barely get a sentence out after we started talking about him," Ino wasted no time in reporting back.

Naruto blinked at her. "Are you sure? She's pretty shy. In high school she could barely string together two words to talk to me."

Ino and Sakura, in frightening synchronization, both turned and looked at him like he was an idiot.

"O-oh," he said, suddenly feeling very confused.

Ino patted his shoulder comfortingly. "There, there. I know it's hard to believe anyone thought you were hot in high school."

"Hey!" Naruto protested over Sakura's laugh, "Sasuke thought I was hot!"

"Did he, now?" Ino eyes narrowed just a touch. "But he waited to see if you'd age well? Smart man."

She smiled, but it didn't quite reach her eyes.

"Don't worry, Ino," Sakura took her arm. "I have plenty of details about how well Sasuke aged, too."

Sakura had not, in fact, asked much about their sex life. Instead, she had asked in every single way, except for outright, if Sasuke had been treating him right. It seemed Ino was interested in the same thing.

"We'll see you, Naruto," Sakura smiled.

"Let me know if you need any more love life interrogations," Ino grinned, "they're my specialty."

"I know," Naruto waggled his eyebrows, "I only work with the best."

* * *

"Oh, N-neji!" Hinata seemed startled to see him. "What brings you here?"

"Cousin," he greeted her.

"I was on my way to see Naruto," he said, lying through his teeth. It would be a cold day in hell before he admitted he had been giving the wide-eyed, panicking man in front of him a pep talk.

"Oh, perfect," she smiled softly and held out a few documents. "Would you be able to bring these to him? I'll head back downstairs."

"Sure," Neji said, eyes flickering to Kiba. He took the papers and headed into Naruto's office, caught Naruto's eyes and waited.

"W-wait, Hinata!"

There it was.

* * *

Kiba had tripped over his own feet to ask Hinata out. Hinata had, apparently, not been afraid of her family this whole time, but rather hadn't wanted to put Kiba through the "hassle". Well, that's how Kiba worded it, anyway, with bulging, disbelieving eyes and hands waving in the air.

Hinata got the whole story from Ino later, who could keep secrets very well, but just chose not to.

They had not confronted the parents yet. They were still working on how to do so—this time with Hinata's input.

And Sasuke had decided, even though he hadn't done much of anything, that his participation in this meant Naruto owed him one. But with the way his dark eyes flickered in the dim light and the way his tongue would dart over his lips after he took a sip of his drink, Naruto didn't much mind.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There you go! A little bonus excerpt from the life of the boys. I hope you enjoyed!
> 
> Till next time,
> 
> \- Kinomi


	12. Extras: Therapy 1/3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, or any of the million spin-offs. I'm definitely considering owning Yours For An Hour though...

They found out later that Itachi's caveat on being part of the family was that his father went to see someone about his lingering grief, among other things. Despite Fugaku's misgivings, he agreed—they got the sense that Itachi hadn't given him much of a choice.

Itachi had gone with him for the first session, and now the therapist had requested to meet Fugaku's second son. Sasuke had agreed easily.

"Are you sure you don't want me to go there with you?" Naruto asked nervously, "I can wait outside."

"Relax, Naruto," Sasuke reassured him. "It'll be fine. And I'll be fine."

He kissed Naruto's forehead and clasped his hand for a moment, before he left for the session.

Naruto rolled his eyes, waited for a good ten minutes, and then left for his own appointment.

* * *

"Naruto."

"Hey Kakashi-sensei!"

"I'm not your teacher, Naruto. In fact, I never really was," Kakashi chuckled a little.

"Ah—well," Naruto blushed, scratching the back of his head.

"It's nice to see you after so long."

"Yeah! I—uh," Naruto understood the hidden 'What made you come here again?' question, "I kind of…wanted to update you on what's going on in my life."

Naruto scrunched up his forehead in worry. "Is that okay?"

Kakashi laughed. "Of course it is! Please, go ahead and update me."

Naruto smiled, and began to talk.

* * *

"Well, it seems like a fantastic point in your life," Kakashi said as they walked to the door. "I have to say, it's a nice change from the norm."

Naruto laughed.

"I know the office isn't the cheapest of places—" Kakashi started.

"I'll visit you again, don't worry," Naruto waved a hand. "I can afford it."

"You've grown into an incredible man," Kakashi said after a moment.

Naruto grinned sheepishly. "Aw, shucks."

They opened the door and waved goodbye, only for Naruto to pause at Kakashi staring at something past his shoulder.

Naruto turned around, and blinked in surprise.

"S-Sasuke!" A bit nervous, but not altogether upset, Naruto gave him a smile. Sasuke looked hesitant.

"Naruto…" he blinked for a moment, "and…Kakashi-sensei?"

"Sasuke!" Kakashi smiled happily, reaching out a hand for him to shake.

Sasuke returned it, but muttered to himself "…the school therapist…?"

Naruto laughed and rubbed the back of his head.

"Not anymore," Kakashi smiled calmly, "as much as I enjoyed the job, I didn't enjoy being unable to follow up with my clients."

"Kakashi went back to school," Naruto said, "and we met in a psych research project I did for bonus marks."

"We did." Kakashi nodded. "Well! It was great to see you two again." Kakashi seemed to understand the two needed a little time alone, and promptly left the conversation.

"I didn't know we were going to the same office," Naruto said sheepishly.

"I didn't know you went to any office at all," Sasuke returned, a little disturbed.

Naruto blinked at him. "You didn't know I saw the school therapist in high school? Some of the guys had a field day with that one…"

"I meant now," Sasuke said meaningfully.

Naruto smiled. "It wasn't anything important about me, I think, but I'll tell you more about it if you like. Where's your dad?"

"Still in there for another half an hour. I was only in for the first half of the session."

"You wanna take a walk?"

"Yeah," Sasuke said, after a moment.

* * *

"So is this gonna be our thing?" Naruto grinned, "walking around random parks whenever we need to have a deep conversation?"

Sasuke snorted. "Apparently."

Naruto shook his head. "So..."

"So…" Sasuke replied, raising an eyebrow.

"So, I actually went to see Kakashi to just update him on my life. A lot's happened recently," he eyed Sasuke meaningfully, "and…I dunno. I've know him for awhile. He helped me through some stuff. I just wanted to talk to him again, I felt like it was a good point." Naruto was rambling a bit, and looked a little embarrassed as he talked.

"Why didn't you tell me about it?" Sasuke asked quietly.

Naruto frowned a little. "Because I didn't feel like it was important. I didn't really think about it until the whole thing with your dad, to be honest, and it didn't feel worth bringing up."

"Okay…but what about after high school? Before this appointment," Sasuke specified.

"You mean why didn't I tell you I had therapy before? It didn't really come up," Naruto shrugged. "It's not really important anyways, y'know? I went there to…get to a certain point; I'm at that point now. So I don't really need it anymore. It's not really relevant. I dunno."

Sasuke watched Naruto for a moment.

"Your past is relevant, Naruto," Sasuke said quietly.

Naruto waved a hand. "Bah, not really. In the grand perspective of things…"

"It's relevant to me," Sasuke insisted.

Naruto looked at him, eyebrows furrowed. "Why?"

Sasuke shrugged, and looked away uncomfortably. Naruto strained to her him speak. "Because I want to know more about you."

Naruto smiled a soft, slow smile that stayed on his face for the rest of their time outside.

* * *

Before Sasuke met his father, they said goodbye and Naruto promised to meet Sasuke later. On his way from the office, however, Sasuke took a detour.

The pink-haired girl sighed, sipping her milkshake. "Are you sure you want to go there, Sasuke?"

"Of course I'm—"

"No," her green eyes felt like they pierced right through him. "Sasuke, listen. Naruto pretty much informed Ino and I on stuff. I don't think he told us everything, but he had to convince us not to kill you somehow." She shrugged.

"Sakura—"

"No, it doesn't matter anyway. What matters is you'll be going to a point where Naruto didn't know your reasons. Where Naruto thought his best friend, easily the most important person in his life, had walked away without a second thought—he was a mess, Sasuke. Are you ready for that Naruto?"

"I—"

"Because that's the Naruto you'll get if he's totally honest with you," she twirled her straw around, "which he won't be, because he's Naruto, and he hates making people feel bad for him."

Sasuke looked at her in surprise.

"You're not telling me not to—"

"No, I'm not telling you not to ask. By all means, ask away," she dabbed at a sticky spot in her drink with her straw, "I'm just warning you that it will take some prodding, if you really want to know what it was like back then. I mean, I could tell you, but you don't really want that, do you?"

Sasuke shook his head.

"Yeah, I figured. So, you can push him, if you want to go there. He won't appreciate it, obviously, but that's Naruto for you."

Sasuke sighed quietly, and looked out the window. "He doesn't really let people get to know him, does he?"

Sakura looked at him meaningfully. "I think he's worried they will leave if they do."

Sasuke's head jerked around so fast his neck ached, but Sakura was already standing.

"Always nice to see you Sasuke. Thanks for the milkshake." And she was gone.

But Sasuke didn't follow. He sat at the table, lost in thought, until the waitress broke him out of his daze.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And there we go! The next part will be up tomorrow.
> 
> See you then!
> 
> \- Kinomi


	13. Extras: Therapy 2/3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto! If I did, I would stick every character in a wedding dress. Because I could. Is that too much power for one person to have?

"What do you want me to say, Sasuke?" Naruto was frowning. "It was a shitty time. I've told you that. I don't understand what more you want from me."

Sasuke fought the urge to get up off of the bed and start pacing. So far, his attempts to talk to Naruto had been steadily rebuked.

"I understand that," Sasuke said, "just tell me more about it."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean tell me…the details. Tell me why it was so hard for you," Sasuke said, looking at Naruto.

Naruto raised an eyebrow. "Because I found out my best friend didn't give a shit about me?"

Sasuke's face softened.

"Why did you care so much?" He asked quietly.

"You really need an ego boost this bad?" But there was no malice in Naruto's voice; he just sounded tired.

"I mean it. You had Sakura, and Kiba, and plenty of other friends. You could have brushed me off as a shitty part of your past. You _should_ have brushed me off as a shitty part of your past."

"Fuck off," Naruto said, a glint in his eye.

"Naruto…"

"That's not fair, Sasuke, and you know it," he said, shoving Sasuke's hand off on his knee.

"Why not?"

"Because you were different! You got me! You understood me in a way that no one else did…at least, I thought you did," Naruto frowned, but didn't look at Sasuke. Sasuke blinked rapidly.

"Sasuke—"

Sasuke stood and gave Naruto a weak smile, "no, I get it." He couldn't leave the room fast enough.

Naruto hugged his knees to his chest, breathing heavily.

* * *

Sasuke felt like the walls were shattering around him. He held his head in his hands, leaning in between his knees as he attempted to steady his breathing. This was…exactly what he had been afraid of. That Naruto remembered something he couldn't live up to: that Naruto was in love with someone he wasn't.

It was obvious, now that he thought about it. Sasuke felt his fingers curl and his nails start to dig into his skin. How could he ever have thought that Naruto be so crazy for, so devoted to, someone as stupid and cowardly as him?

* * *

Naruto steadied his breathing and tried to sink into his own mind. Sasuke had been pushing at him tonight and he hadn't responded well, that much was for sure.

He sighed. He shouldn't have lashed out at Sasuke like that. Obviously. It was a nasty thing to do and Naruto shuddered slightly as the guilt started to sink in. He knew Sasuke understood him. Sasuke had always understood—he just wasn't getting the hint right now. Naruto hadn't exactly been subtle about not wanting to go into explicit detail quite yet…They had plenty of time for Sasuke to learn all he wanted about Naruto, so why the rush? It's not like he was going anywhere…was he?

* * *

When somewhere around 20 minutes had passed, Naruto was fully convinced he had to apologize—the only issue was finding the right words. He had stood up and was pacing back and forth when the door opened.

Naruto looked up in surprise. Sasuke stood in the entrance, hand paused on the doorknob as if he was considering completely turning around, but he seemed to shake himself, and stepped into the room, closing the door behind him.

"Sasuke, I—" Naruto started.

"I'm sorry," Sasuke interrupted, eyes downcast.

Naruto stared at him.

"Just…hear me out, okay?" Sasuke said, and Naruto suddenly found himself unable to speak. He nodded.

"I'm sorry," Sasuke began again. "I…pushed. A lot. And I probably shouldn't have. But I...it was my fault that I missed out on all of this. I should have just talked to you from the start. Hell, I should have just talked to my _dad_ from the start. But I didn't. I fucked up every chance I got, and I was so close to doing it again." Sasuke was pacing as he spoke. "And I missed a huge part of your life. And I hurt you. Badly. Don't tell me that I didn't, I talked to Sakura." Sasuke said when Naruto opened his mouth to speak.

Sasuke seemed to shake himself a little, "but anyways—I'm not—that's not…if you don't want to talk about it then of course we don't have to. I would like I know. I would. But it was shitty of me to push you like that, and I'm sorry. I didn't—"

"Sasuke," Naruto's voice was barely a whisper. It made Sasuke stop and look up at him. Naruto had a little smile on his face, "you're repeating yourself."

Sasuke swallowed. "Sorry," he said quietly. Naruto smiled a little wider.

"I'm sorry, too," he offered.

Sasuke's head snapped up. "You don't—"

"No," Naruto lifted himself onto the bed and crossed his legs, looking at Sasuke with piercing blue eyes. "I was a dick. Implying that you somehow don't get me anymore was a dick move and I shouldn't have done it. I know you do. So I'm sorry."

Sasuke blinked quickly and looked away.

"And I told you that I'd tell you more about it if you really wanted to know, so that's my own fault. I shouldn't have said that if I didn't mean it." Naruto continued. Sasuke was still, and quiet.

"Come here," Naruto said. Sasuke obeyed, and Naruto reached his arms out to holding onto Sasuke's arms as he came closer.

Naruto ran his thumb over Sasuke's forearm and looked up at him. Sasuke looked…fragile. Naruto gave a small sigh.

"You feel guilty, don't you?" He asked quietly. Sasuke's eyes snapped to his before looking away, swallowing quickly. Naruto took that as a yes.

"If it helps, I don't think I was ever really mad at you," Naruto said. Sasuke's eyebrows furrowed and he looked ready to argue, but Naruto moved his hands over Sasuke's arms and kept speaking. "I was mad, yeah, but not at you. I was more confused than anything. You're not a great actor, Sasuke," Naruto gave him a smile and was rewarded with a small puff of air that would have probably been a snort if Sasuke was feeling better.

"I knew something was up. Hell, Sakura knew something was up. And I was upset, but like…I knew it wasn't really goodbye. It's not like it's hard to track down the name 'Uchiha' or anything."

That got a snort. Naruto smiled.

"And anyways, y'know, it wasn't a _great_ process but the thing is…I'm really happy where I am now." Naruto leaned forward to uncross his legs and sat up on his knees to get close to Sasuke. "Things are good, Sasuke. Things are _really_ good. I've got a job that I really like and the pay is great, I've got an amazing group of friends, _and_ I've got you back in my life…and, y'know, you may find this hard to believe but I am well aware I was a little shit in school. Maybe not totally aware at the time, but I knew people found me annoying and I could feel when I was being too much…but I couldn't really control it. It's those kind of…memories that make you cringe, like 'what was I thinking?'" Sasuke was looking at him now, and Naruto couldn't resist; "like when you used to use mountains of that awful hair gel everyday."

That got a laugh out of Sasuke—nearly silent, but a laugh nonetheless. Naruto grinned and rested his forehead against Sasuke's for a moment.

"But, you know," he pulled back to sit on his heels, "I've gotten to a point where I really like who I am. Don't get me wrong, I never like…really hated myself, or anything, but I'm at a point now where I'm…confident, I guess, in myself and in my abilities. And it wasn't great getting to where I am but I'm not sure I would really want to trade it in…you know?"

He looked up at Sasuke, who was looking at him like he had never seen him before.

"When did you get so mature?" Sasuke's voice was quiet, but thick. Naruto laughed, and leaned forwards to rest his forehead on Sasuke's chest. For a moment, he just breathed in Sasuke's scent. He felt arms wrap around him and Sasuke's head come to rest on top of his.

"I'm still sorry," he felt, more than heard, Sasuke mutter.

Naruto have a small laugh and pulled back to look Sasuke in the eyes.

"You're a stubborn bastard," he said. But Sasuke was looking at him with such warmth in his eyes that Naruto didn't want to wait to hear the retort, and pulled the Uchiha on top of him. They didn't end up sleeping for a while yet.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Cute? I thought so, at least! I like writing fics where the boys work out their insecurities in a reasonable manner because it's such a nice break from canon... :P I hope you enjoyed! The last little extra will be up tomorrow.
> 
> Until then!
> 
> \- Kinomi


	14. Extras: Therapy 3/3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, or Sasuke, or any of the stupid fights they have while holding hands COME ON GUYS

Later that night, Sasuke was still awake. Naruto very obviously wasn't, as evidenced by the snoring and occasional mumbling. The blonde rolled over to face him, slurring something about paper airplanes and hitting Sasuke in the shoulder with a surprising amount of force.

Sasuke smiled, and shuffled closer to Naruto. His blonde eyebrows were furrowed and he twitched when Sasuke went to brush his hair out of his face. Sasuke snorted and sat up just enough to reach the top of Naruto's head to scratch it. Naruto was never the type to have trouble sleeping, but run your hands through his hair and he was out like a light.

'Like a puppy,' Sasuke thought, smiling to himself. He scratched Naruto's head until the blonde fell into a more peaceful dream, and then withdrew his hand.

Naruto, however, had other plans. As soon as Sasuke went to move his hand away, he somehow managed to grab onto it, rolling over so that his butt was pressed against Sasuke's crotch. He had Sasuke's hand cuddled to his chest.

Sasuke rolled his eyes, but leaned in to press his head against the back of Naruto's neck. He fell asleep with a smile on his face.

* * *

Miraculously, neither of them moved during the night—of course, Naruto didn't know this, because as usual, Sasuke woke with the light and Naruto remained blissfully oblivious.

Unfortunately, his hand was still trapped. He tried to pull it away, but Naruto just tightened his grip. He sighed. He was fighting a battle between his libido and his bladder, and his bladder was winning.

All at once, the fight from yesterday came back to his mind, and he felt himself shrink a little. Naruto acted like all was well, and maybe it was, but it didn't stop Sasuke from feeling like a shithead who didn't deserve such a positive force in his life.

Suddenly, his bladder didn't seem like such an issue. He leaned into Naruto and closed his eyes.

* * *

Naruto was surprised when he woke up before Sasuke, but he wasn't complaining. The Uchiha looked awfully peaceful, and Naruto wasn't about to disturb him. He slipped out from under the covers as gracefully and quietly as he could.

* * *

When Sasuke woke up again, he was alone and he was cold. He vaguely remembered a dream where Naruto and him were fighting again, and he sighed. He debated writing the whole day off and going back to sleep again, but he had slept too much already and could feel the headache coming. He rolled onto his back and looked up at the ceiling. It was as if his insecurities had been hiding under the surface, and sprung up all at once.

He forced himself to sit up, and wiped at his eyes, trying to get his sleep-heavy thoughts in order.

The door opened.

"Hey," Sasuke said, somehow relieved. The blonde was had pancakes and a grin.

"Why do you sound so surprised to see me?" The blonde laughed, and plopped a plate in front of Sasuke.

Sasuke's lips quirked up a little and he hid his face under his bangs.

"Where are you going?" Sasuke would forever deny the completely irrational panic he felt as Naruto headed to the door.

The blonde turned back with sparking eyes and a playful smile that nearly made Sasuke's heart stop. " _You_ may like your pancakes plain but that doesn't mean the rest of us sane people do," he grinned, leaving the door open as he practically bounded back to the kitchen.

He took longer than Sasuke would have liked, and came back carrying an armful of various things. Sasuke quirked an eyebrow.

"I couldn't decide!" Naruto blushed and unceremoniously dropped everything onto the bed.

"Naruto!" Sasuke said, trying to catch the sugar before the lid fell off.

"Oh relax," Naruto rolled his eyes, "I made sure all of the lids were on tight before I got here."

Sasuke eyed the pile doubtfully. "Alright, but if you get maple syrup on my bed, you have to clean it off."

"What if I get maple syrup on _you_?" Naruto waggled his eyebrows. Sasuke chuckled.

"I would hold you responsible for that, too," he said.

Naruto grinned. "You do know you're supposed to discourage me from wanting to spill the syrup, right?"

Sasuke laughed. "Sit down before they get cold."

"Okay!" Naruto bounced onto the bed, grabbing the plate and pulling it into his lap. Sasuke frantically grabbed his own to stop it from spilling everywhere.

"Should I go for the chocolate chips or the strawberries first?" Naruto was fiddling through the food he had brought.

"Did you bring everything I had in there?" Sasuke asked.

"I…you had so much! Why do you even have this much food at your place?"

Sasuke blushed. "I always think I'm going to cook more than I do," he muttered.

Naruto laughed. "Well it's a good thing you have me to eat it all now, huh?"

Naruto had a playful, smug grin and Sasuke couldn't help but lean over and kiss him.

"Yeah," he muttered against Naruto's lips, "good thing."

* * *

"You're so quiet today," Naruto said as they were loading the dishwasher.

Sasuke blinked. "I didn't think I was usually loud."

"Well, you're not," Naruto said, "but you're not _this_ quiet. I don't think you've called me an idiot once today!"

Naruto chuckled at his own joke, but Sasuke looked away.

"Sasuke?" Naruto asked.

"You…you know I don't actually think that right?" Sasuke said quietly.

Naruto looked surprised.

"What, that I'm an idiot?" He closed the dishwasher and moved to stand in front of Sasuke, "duh."

"I'm pretty sure I've told you that before, too. I've seen the way you act with people who you actually think are idiots." Naruto scoffed, "and why on earth would you be dating me if that's what you thought?"

Sasuke nodded, eyes still low.

"Sasuke?" Naruto said, after a moment. "You're kinda worrying me. What's up?" He pulled Sasuke's chin up to look him in the eyes.

"Nothing," Sasuke said, almost automatically, "sorry." He moved away from the blonde.

"Oh no you don't," Naruto cut him off by moving in front of him. "You're a terrible liar, Sasuke. Talk to me."

Naruto's eyes were serious. Sasuke took a moment to appreciate what a good look it was on him.

"Sasuke?"

Sasuke looked down and up again. Naruto was quiet, patient. This combination between the loudmouthed idiot he was used to and this new calm attitude seemed to always break him down.

"You spent years chasing after me," Sasuke almost whispered.

Naruto didn't reply, just continued to watch him and wait.

The next few words were so quiet he barely heard them.

"I'm not worth that."

It took a moment for the words to register.

"The hell you're not!" He shoved Sasuke back into the counter. He felt the pain in his lower back and looked up into Naruto's angry eyes.

"Sasuke—"

"No, listen to me," he forced his voice not to shudder, "you've changed. A lot over the years. In a good way," he added hastily at the look in Naruto's eyes. "Just because you were in…just because you liked me in high school does not—by any means—mean you will now. And I'm just waiting for you to find—"

Naruto kissed him: a rough, passionate kiss that slammed his back against the counter again.

"You're an idiot," Naruto pulled away just enough to talk. "You're the biggest idiot in the world if you think that's true."

He kissed Sasuke again, before he could talk.

"But that's okay, bastard," he whispered against his lips, "I'm just gonna have to prove you wrong."

Naruto gave him a playful, determined smile and Sasuke's world felt right again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bit of a shorter one, but I liked how it ended here :) I hope you did too!
> 
> With that, the daily updates to this fic are going to end. I'll be posting something else soon enough, though! 
> 
> Till next time!
> 
> \- Kinomi


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